Microsoft's Mojang brings pixellated axe down on AR Minecraft game because it's not like folk are going outside
- Reference: 1609936525
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/01/06/minecraft_earth_dead/
- Source link:
Launched back in 2019, the game featured heavily in Microsoft's last major in-person event, [2]Ignite 2019 , as CEO Satya Nadella took to the stage to deliver a keynote bookended with a slightly toe-curling attempt to play the game while showing off the company's Azure-powered augmented reality and spatial anchor smarts.
Launched amid the Pokémon Go phenomenon, Minecraft Earth was, according to Mojang, "designed around free movement and collaborative play" – two activities somewhat frowned upon thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Rather than wait out the virus, Mojang has opted to pull the plug and end support from 30 June 2021, at which point the servers will be turned off and players shown a Sunset information screen.
Players have until then to gather, virtually, around the campfire, sing songs and tell stories of the game's impressively short life. Mojang emitted an update last night "to make your time in Minecraft Earth as fun as possible"... "while staying safe indoors."
The update also strips out real-money transactions and drops in "all completed, unreleased content currently in our pipeline."
One can almost hear hands being wrung as the team said: "We have made the difficult decision to re-allocate our resources to other areas that provide value to the Minecraft community," and, of course, the existing Minecraft cash cow won't be going anywhere as long as one has that all-important Microsoft account. After all, 2021 is the year of [3]the great migration .
Minecraft's my Nirvana. I found it hard, it's hard to find. Oh well, whatever... Never Mined [4]READ MORE
The Minecraft behemoth has rumbled on regardless, as an [5]early FAQ observed: " Minecraft Earth has a separate team dedicated to its development, so that both it and vanilla Minecraft can get the love and care they deserve."
That "love and care", for the former at least, was a short, sharp shove off a cliff when the going got tough. It's a shame and some have [6]suggested that perhaps the game had been less profitable than hoped. It was also easier to play Minecraft Earth without leaving the house (if you were so inclined) than the likes of Pokémon Go .
Minecraft Earth is not alone. The augmented reality and location-based Ghostbusters World was axed in 2020. Pokémon Go , however, has continued to [7]rake in the billions .
No flowers, pixellated or otherwise. ®
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[1] https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/minecraft-earth-coming-end
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2019/11/08/ignite_keynote_roundup/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/22/minecraft_microsoft_account/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2019/05/23/column_may/
[5] https://help.minecraft.net/hc/en-us/articles/360033744412-Minecraft-Earth-FAQs
[6] https://twitter.com/FarterFanning/status/1346502224575418371
[7] https://sensortower.com/blog/pokemon-go-one-billion-revenue-2020
[8] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: which will turn me off completely.
Well, you could always slum-it in minetest, if you still really need your post-minecraft cubalicious fix. :-)
Re: which will turn me off completely.
I actually prefer Minetest, no account needed, and free, and I doubt the reasons given are the real reason it's being axed.
Thanks MicroJang!
My Minecraft account was created in 2013
I have been an avid player ever since I got the hang of it, and I have incited not a few people to play it as well.
I play the Java version, obviously, and when MC Earth came out, I was interested in seeing what it was about.
After viewing a few YouTube videos about how it worked and showing the gameplay, I dropped all interest in it. Playing on the phone is already something I loath, and nothing in it gave my any real incentive to change my views.
I know that there are people who find it a blast, so I feel sorry for them, but I won't miss it.
That said, I doubt Borkzilla will delete the code. Maybe, when this pandemic is finally over, it will be revived and people can play it again.
Re: My Minecraft account was created in 2013
That said, I doubt Borkzilla will delete the code. Maybe, when this pandemic is finally over, it will be revived and people can play it again.
I wondered about that possibility. Or maybe some enterprising individuals will offer to buy it?
You will play our games the way we say
or not at all.
So... I'm taking my ball home. So There!
This is going to get interesting
As a long time minecraft player, knocking on for a decade, I am concerned that Microsoft will turn the account in to a pay-monthly affair, which will turn me off completely.
As far as I'm concerned, running my own server, the costs to Microsoft are down to onward development and bug fixing of the game itself... which is not an insignificant cost, but Microsoft could certainly freeze development for those of us on the Java version, and only provide authentication services.... and lets face it, there will likely be an authentication service which will run locally and only require a host file redirection... it's been done before for other games, and I have little doubt it will be done again.
I'm certainly not signing up to a subscription service, that's for sure. I think Microsoft might end up shooting themselves in the foot if they do it this way. I dare say it would be a major publicity disaster for them.
I do believe that Notch should have kept his promise to give the game to the community when he was fed up with it. I hope his money is keeping him warm at night. It doesn't seem to have done anything to spur his efforts in other ventures as far as I can see.